Family of 4 - 7yr old boy, 14yr old girl. We’ve been to WDW many times and are having the toughest time deciding. We want to do 4 nights/3 days - park/resort day/park. GF is $250 more/night. If we stay at AKL, we plan to go to AK and EP or MK. If we stay at GF, we plan to go to MK and EP. Std room at either one.
We’ve never stayed at either resort. Our last stay was at FW, and we had a great time (had a golf cart, tried archery, kids played a huge game of hide and seek at the playground with new friends).
We took the boat to MK, which is my husband’s favorite transportation at WDW.
Ugh! Is GF worth an extra $1,000???
We love animals too; I think we’d like ALL quite a bit - but bussing everywhere….
Also, we got a message there is still construction at GF - it would be hard to pay the premium if there’s noticeable construction.
I would suggest if you stay at AK (my pick) you visit MK and Epcot. The resort will give you a good AK feel.
Personally I would rather spend a resort day at AK over GF. But GF you could do a monorail resort crawl if you think your crew would like that.
The buses are fine. You could ride share but I have zero issues with Disney buses.
I would save the money. We stayed at GF in Oct for the first time. Pretty but a bit too fancy pants for me, lol. AK lobby is so magical!!
I will piggy back on this a bit. Stay at AK with one park day at MK and one park day at EP. And use the savings on the resort toward buying LLPP for MK. I enjoy spending other people’s money for them
I was thinking of one of the tours at AK! Ok, OK. Just an character meal on rest day. They might like Chef Mickey’s or Artisans Point. Although I was going to suggest Rainforest Cafe or Trex on rest day. Kids would love it!
I vote AKL, because it smells really good and Jiko is amazing.
And park days at AK (because it’s right there!) and Epcot for Flower and Garden (and maybe coinciding with a Deluxe After Hours night?). Rest day as Uber to another hotel for breakfast, a pool day with Disney Springs shenanigans plus dinner, and Starlight Safari at AKL at night.
If you didn’t have kids with you and were looking for a fancy adults stay, I would lean to GF. The rooms are beautiful. But AK has soooo much character and the Savannah!
Ummmm I do really like GF honestly but AKL is probably the best resort on property as a standalone resort. Really it’s all about the animals and they are magical. If that one was closer to other things and I wasn’t trying to check them all off my list I’d probably stay there every time. It’s a tie for me b/w AKL and BW because I do love BW theming and its proximity to my fave park Epcot. But AKL is still the best. GF is just lovely though. I enjoy just sitting outside at the quick service and staring at MK. But you don’t have to stay there to do that. I’ve done a meal there and then taken the boat over to MK if you just want to view the resort.
I mean this was our morning wakeup in AKL. We would come home every day midday to just sit out on the balcony and watch the animals. Magical
GF has nice pools and great restaurants. The space is both relaxing and has the “buzz” of the monorail resorts. On your day off you also have access to four resorts for hang out and meals.
BUT $1000 is a lot of money and AKL is special, with a nice pool and activities at the resort.
Bus-wise, only MK is a long way away. The others are very convenient. For me, a big factor would be how your kids feel about animals.
As a family, we like animals - we homeschool, so we appreciate the educational aspects of AKL. I’m trying to figure out what my hesitation is for AKL and I think it’s mostly that we like our mid-day breaks and I’m worried we will waste a lot of time back and forth. MK and EP are most likely where we will go.
15-25 minutes per day tops IMO. It’s really not a huge difference. Walking from MK - GF can be the quickest but not restful. The boat is quick too. As far as Epcot goes, taking the monorail to the Epcot monorail to Epcot can take a similar amount of time as a bus from AK to Epcot.
On this front I would say Beach Club! We stayed there for the first time 3 weeks ago and it was ridiculously convienient. Short bus ride to MK, 6 minute walk to EP.
I also really love Poly as a 2 resort property. Having a short walk to the TTC for the EPCOT monorail is amazing.
Sorry for going outside of your choices!
Also - last time I stayed at AKL I drove. It made it much easier to go back and forth. So if a car is out of the question, I hear what you are saying about mid-day breaks.
I LOVE Yacht/Beach, but didn’t look there this time b/c of the pool closure. We will have a car, we just prefer to be fully in the bubble by not driving once we’re there. Is Poly as loud as everyone says it is? That was my hesitation.
I forgot about the pool closure - that is a definite bummer.
And I was thinking about Poly when I mentioned GF has an energetic vibe of a monorail resort vut isn’t overwhelming. Poly can be very busy and crowded. I stay DVC and usually stay around the quiet pool - which is not an option for non-DVC. So maybe that takes it off your list.
My last thought, if you don’t stay in the main building at GF, and you are going during a time when there are frequent afternoon showers, you can get stuck in your building. That is one advantage AKL has, you don’t have to go outside.
On the otherhand, I will go back to that fun but relaxes energy of GF. And if you get stuck in the rain at a park, it is easier to get back to the resort.
